ARLINGTON, Virginia — A yr into the second Trump administration, Tony Brown remains to be sifting via wreckage, making an attempt to make sense of how the swift gutting of the federal workforce detonated a life that he thought could be safe.
Brown had lastly landed what he had spent greater than a decade chasing: a federal job, this one as an information scientist on the Heart for Substance Abuse Remedy. However then, in February 2025, after he had been within the position for under a few months, a letter arrived informing him that he was being lower. The layoff didn’t solely price him a paycheck — it additionally rattled his sense of price.
“I’m within the personal sector now, however I needed to get a therapist even months after I received the brand new job,” Brown informed Capital B. “[U.S. Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought] stated that the aim was to traumatize the civil servants. I nonetheless really feel that trauma.”
Because the nation prepares to tune into President Donald Trump’s primetime deal with to Congress on Tuesday, the overhaul of the federal workforce — a transfer that has hit Black communities significantly laborious — is bound to weigh closely on the minds of many Black Individuals.
But it surely seemingly gained’t be the one concern, given the delicate state of the nation. Financial progress slumped on the finish of 2025, because the Black unemployment price jumped to 7.5%. And the current deaths of U.S. residents by the hands of federal brokers have reignited Black anxieties over legislation enforcement accountability.
Trump will stroll into his deal with with 6 in 10 Individuals disapproving of his efficiency. This determine lays naked the electoral problem dealing with the Republican Get together within the midterm elections this fall, although some Black conservatives proceed to help Trump, unfazed by the racist video focusing on Barack and Michelle Obama he just lately shared on-line.
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger — the primary girl governor of the state — will ship the Democratic Get together’s response to Trump’s deal with. A minimum of a dozen Democrats have stated that they may boycott the president’s State of the Union speech.
As Trump’s second time period grinds on, Brown, who intends on watching the deal with, clings to the hope that Trump and his advisers will take heed to the considerations of all Individuals — and particularly these in essentially the most weak communities.
“They actually need to know that they’re not the administration of only a sure sort of American,” Brown stated. “They’re making selections that have an effect on everybody.”
Beneath is a have a look at three defining points from the previous yr and their impression on the lives of Black Individuals.
Job insecurity
What has occurred? The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this month that U.S. employers added simply 181,000 jobs final yr — a pointy drop from the 1.46 million positions created in 2024. Equally, the bureau reported in December that the unemployment price rose to 4.6% towards the top of final yr, which marked a four-year excessive.
This insecurity has prolonged to the federal authorities, the place some 300,000 staff had been fired or pushed out by the top of 2025. The administration has characterised this overhaul as a chance to enhance authorities effectivity and weed out waste. Specialists and former employees, nevertheless, warn that the cuts have resulted within the lack of experience that’s important to the functioning of presidency companies.
What has been the impression on Black Individuals? Black unemployment surged to 7.5% in December — the best since 2021, the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Black girls have been significantly burdened, with at the very least 300,000 reported to have left the labor pressure final yr. And whereas Black Individuals make up about 14% of the U.S. inhabitants, they account for roughly 18% of federal staff, which means that the current cuts have landed with disproportionate pressure in these communities.
This fragility retains Brown on edge, even in his new position. The instability that he as soon as related to federal authorities work now feels inescapable.
“Between tariffs and all these different stressors on the financial system, the personal sector is simply as weak because the federal authorities,” he stated. “Corporations are nonetheless letting folks go.”
Immigration crackdown
What has occurred? Tensions within the Twin Cities spiraled in January, after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot Renée Good in Minneapolis, firing into her automotive as she tried to depart a standoff throughout a neighborhood monitoring effort. A number of weeks later, federal brokers opened fireplace once more: Two U.S. Customs and Border Safety officers killed Alex Pretti throughout an operation in Minneapolis. The administration has additionally focused Black critics who documented the violence in Minneapolis.
What has been the impression on Black Individuals? The administration’s immigration crackdown has reignited deep anxieties, particularly amongst Black Individuals and different weak teams, about being unfairly singled out and focused for deportation due to their background.
Michael Duruaku stated that the administration’s hard-line rhetoric over the previous yr has compelled blunt discussions amongst his household about what it means to be Black within the U.S. This stress has been felt sharply the place he lives in a Minneapolis suburb.
“I’ve an 8-year-old son who’s, I believe, a bit of extra conscious of the world round him,” Duruaku, who’s Nigerian American, informed Capital B in January. “He’s asking a number of questions on how all this impacts us, about why Black folks and migrants are being focused.”
Medicaid restrictions
What has occurred? Trump signed the “One Huge Lovely Invoice Act” into legislation final summer season. Amongst different issues, it ties eligibility for Medicaid — a authorities well being care program for low-income folks — to strict work necessities or different qualifying actions.
What has been the impression on Black Individuals? An estimated 20% of Medicaid enrollees are Black, although Black Individuals are 14% of the U.S. inhabitants.
Well being care specialists have warned that imposing work necessities is tantamount to kicking folks off this system.
“Persons are busy, and a month-to-month administrative burden is big,” Michael Linden, a former senior official with the Workplace of Administration and Price range, informed Capital B final yr. “Lots of people find yourself not getting Medicaid as a result of they miss a month of submitting, or the varieties are sophisticated, or they’re simply making an attempt to place meals on the desk.”
